Boots On The Ground Food Collection Drive

As a integral part of our Homeless Veterans Outreach Program, our Boots On the Ground collection campaign serves to directly support and impact the quality of life for our wounded veterans including those veterans who are at-risk and/or who are homeless. With over 40,000 veterans across this great nation experiencing the pain and hopelessness of being homeless and with tens of thousand of our elderly veterans facing the very real possibility of going hungry and even losing their homes, this USASOA program helps to provide them with food, toiletries and warm clothing during the colder months.

Veteran hunger and homeless is a stain on our nations collective, moral conscious. In the most powerful and wealthiest nation on God’s earth, we should never treat the needs of our defenders of freedom as a line item entry on our national budget. Our service members and our veterans are the very foundation upon which our freedom is granted to us, yet we often fail to recognize that fact or there would be no need for programs like this.

George Washington said, “ The character of a nation is seen in how it treats it’s veterans.” What would he say of us today?

Boots on the Ground  is an actual collection drive to gather various basic items, goods and resources for our wounded, homeless and at risk veterans. This program has many variations: 1) We partner with a a food store which allows our volunteers to set up a table in front of their store and hand out flyers to customers who are going into the store to shop. The flyers have a list of the items we are collecting: nonperishable food items, toiletries, etc. We ask people to please consider purchasing an item from the list and to simply drop it off to us as they leave the store. 2) Our volunteers select a a neighborhood to conduct the collection drive. On a Thursday evening, our volunteers go door to door delivering BOOTS ON THE GROUND Flyers to homes on Capitol Hill. The BOTG Flyers have a list of the items (below) that we are currently collecting for our wounded, homeless. and at-risk veterans. The flyer also informs the resident that our volunteers will be back in their neighborhood on that following Saturday between 10:30 and 12:30 pm. If the resident has an item or items to contribute, we ask them to place the door hanger (which is attached to the flyer) on their exterior front door so that our volunteers will know to collect their donations. 3)The Boots On The Ground Collection Campaign can be conducting in any school. place of worship, business, office or neighborhood - USASOA will provide all of the necessary information, flyers and posters needed to ensure the success of this incredible mission of mercy. Contact Us to conduct a Boots On The Ground program in your area or call us directly at 202-670-3525

The items we collect are distributed to our wounded through the American Red Cross Stations located within our military  hospitals. We also distribute the items directly to our homeless and at-risk veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs Community Resource Center and Homeless Shelters. Your donation of needed items directly reach our wounded and other vulnerable veterans in need. 

You may also send us a donation of one of the items in the list below. If you are able to do more, please do so. The items can be mailed to our office - please consider using Amazon Smile as United Soldiers and Sailors of America is charity-associated. For larger orders, we will arrange to pick them up from your home or office in the DC Metro area

Mailing address:
United Soldiers and Sailors of America
714 Farmington Road West
Accokeek, Maryland 20607

In addition, for the past 3 years, USASOA has partnered with Giant Foods to hold a monthly BOOTS ON THE GROUND campaign in front of their stores during the warmer months. Upon entering the store, our volunteers hand their customers a card with a list of the items most needed by our wounded at Walter Reed. We ask them to please consider making a purchase of one or several of the items and to drop them off at our table in front of the store as they leave.

DONATION LIST
*Please note, for patient safety, all items must be new & unused.

Toiletries (for men & women)
Full Size Body Wash
Full Size 2 in 1 Shampoo/Conditioner
Travel Size Lotion
Travel Size Mouthwash
Shaving Cream and Disposable Razors (for men and women)
Toothpaste and Toothbrush
Deodorant (male & female)
Hairbrushes and Combs
Laundry Detergent Pods

Clothing Items for Men and Women in Various Sizes
Sweatshirts and Sweatpants (hoodies with and without zippers)
Socks for men and women(wool and cotton)
Wool Hats, Gloves, Scarfs, Jackets for Spring and Winter and Blankets

Gift Cards
$10. 7-11 Gift Cards for homeless veterans to buy a sandwich, water or coffee.
Giant/Safeway /Food Lion/Krogers Gift Cards
Dunkin Donuts Gift Cards
Subway Gift Cards

Non-Perishable Food Items
Prepackaged Ready To Eat Meals, Canned and Microwavable Foods: Tuna, Soups, Rice, Pasta and Pasta Sauce, etc Bottled Water, Gator Aide, Protein Drinks, Ensure for Elderly Veterans .